Prepare a setlist and get ready to play live in MainStage

1. Copy your concert

Start every setlist from a copy so your main concert stays untouched. Choose File > Save As, name it with the date, and save it in Music > MainStage > Sunday Keys. It can take up to a minute to copy.

2. Choose your Patches

Use the Layered Worship Patches, Patch Builder, or both. Three approaches work well:

One Patch for the whole set. Build one flexible Patch and use the faders and modifiers to bring sounds in and out. Simple and consistent.
One Patch per song. Use the Next button to move between songs. Great for setting a tempo and different textures per song.
Several Patches per song. Copy a Patch (Command-C, Command-V) and make quiet, normal and big versions. Rename each right away, and press Command-S after setting each one's modifiers.

Set each Patch's tempo: select it, open the Inspector's Attributes tab, check Change Tempo To and type the BPM. Or use Tap Tempo live.

3. Save your Patches, then trim the concert

Export every Patch you'll use (Command-E) into Patch Builder. If you delete one by mistake, you can get it back. See Save, export and keep your Patches.
Remove everything else from the concert. Select a Patch or Set and press Delete. The fewer Patches MainStage keeps ready, the smoother it runs. Removing a Patch from your concert doesn't remove it from Patch Builder.

Many players keep one extra "just in case" Patch with their most-used piano and pad.

4. Set up MainStage and your Mac for live use

In MainStage > Settings (or Preferences):

General > Startup Action: choose Open Most Recent Concert, so you're back fast if MainStage ever restarts.
General > Autosave Modified Concert: choose Never.
Display: check Perform in Full Screen and Disable Screen Saver in Perform Mode.

On your Mac, quit other apps and turn on Do Not Disturb (or a Focus) so nothing pops up mid-song. Play in Perform mode.

Hearing pops or glitches? See Fix pops, glitches and CPU overload.